SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Let's pick the Week 145 movie!

[europe1]

NOTE to NON-MEMBERS: Interested in joining the SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB? Shoot me a PM for more info!

Here's a quick list of all movies watched by the SMC. Or if you prefer, here's a more detailed examination.

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Moreorless is more-or-less determined to bring something new to the SMC. After ruminating about which arthouse-Poké Ball to throw at us, he has decided to hit us with what he calls the modern neo neo realism movement!

He moreorless speaks!

"The question of modern movements I think is a problem across a lot of popular art like music, but in arthouse cinema I suspect that in years to come what the recent era will be looked back on most is so-called "neo neo realism", attempts to make drama as down to earth as possible. There is I think a tendency for many films of the genre to rather drift along but I'v gone with choices that I felt had a stronger narrative arc to them to match the style, Yi Yi comes from a somewhat earlier point but I think was a pretty strong precursor to the movement"

Candidates:

Yi Yi (2000)

Director: Edward Yang

Stars: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Issei Ogata

Premise: Each member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.​

Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

Director: Abdellatif Kechiche

Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche
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Premise: Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.

Leviathan (2014)

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Stars: Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Roman Madyanov
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Premise: In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.

Two Days, One Night (2014)

Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Stars: Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée

Premise: Liège, Belgium. Sandra is a factory worker who discovers that her workmates have opted for a EUR1,000 bonus in exchange for her dismissal. She has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses in order to keep her job.​

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Members: @europe1 @MusterX @Cubo de Sangre @sickc0d3r @FrontNakedChoke @AndersonsFoot @Tufts @chickenluver @Coolthulu @OMGstreetfight @Yotsuya @jei @LHWBelt @moreorless87 @ArtemV @Bullitt68 @HenryFlower @Nailgun @Rimbaud82 @BeardotheWeirdo @Zer
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moreorless87 Top Theme for the Week is "Top 5 Car Chases" (very topical to this theme)​

 

[Rimbaud82]

I definitely will not be skipping @moreorless87's week!

 

[Zer]

Oh shit there's one film here that's been like the top of my to watch list for ages now. It kinda sounds related somehow to this vidya game I'm creepily obsessed with

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Neo neo realism, huh? If we carry on with this naming scheme, where will we be in 20 years? Triple Neo-realism?

 

[ArtemV]

Don't vote for Leviathan, pls. Sadly, movies from my country are not so good

 

[HenryFlower]

two movies here that I have been meaning to watch for awhile now, but one slightly edged out the other due to a friend always pushing me towards the director of the one I picked.

also, I need to catch up on a few weeks that I have missed. will probably skip RP1 this week, so that should give me the time to catch up.

 

[europe1]

Don't vote for Leviathan, pls. Sadly, movies from my country are not so good

C'mon bruh. Even if you don't like the movie, you shouldn't try to influence the vote



Besides, you love Adam Sandler! We're not going to trust you anyways!


Top 5 10 Car Chases (from memory)!

10. Duel (I suppose)
9. Ronin (Paris!)
8. The Driver (opening chase, the 1978 version)
7. To Live and Die in LA (for going against Traffic)
6. Mad Max (I am the Nightrider!)
5. Blues Brothers (Car Carnage)
4. Bullitt (for it's gritty verisimilitude)
3. Death Proof (for the only 15 good minutes in that movie)
2. Fury Road (take your pick)
1. Mad Max 2: Final Battle

 

[Rimbaud82]

Don't vote for Leviathan, pls. Sadly, movies from my country are not so good

 

[Drain Bamage]

Every time I watch Blue Is The Warmest Color I get to touchin' myself

 

[Bullitt68]

There's only one movie in this list that can keep me from skipping next week. Here's to hoping it wins (even though right now it's just me and @Tufts voting for the obvious rightful pick).

As for the Top Theme: I'm following @europe1 and going for 10 rather than 5. And, while my name is probably a giveaway for the #1 slot, for the rest of my list of the GOAT car chases:

1) Bullitt - No competition. Awesome but not flashy. Cool but not in your face. Bad ass but not over-the-top. It's perfect.

2) The Dark Knight - What I've always called "the truck scene," when The Joker attacks the transport with Harvey Dent. Great suspense, great action, great cinematography and editing, and great finish...you know, minus Batman not just running The Joker over and ending the movie on the spot

3) The Matrix Reloaded - If not for anything else, the sequels were worth making for the amazing highway scene alone.

4) Batman Begins - The scene where Batman has to escape the cops to get Rachel back to the Batcave for the fear toxin antidote.

5) Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - The combo car/bike chase scene in Morocco. The best combination of comedy and intensity in a chase scene as well as the GOAT bike chase.

6) The Fate of the Furious - Fuck the haters, I enjoy the latter franchise films WAY more and what I call "the harpoon scene," where they all have Dom locked up, is the best chase scene in the franchise.

7) The Bourne Ultimatum - The New York chase near the end. I love this scene because it not only captures but foregrounds the insane amount of damage that a car chase would inevitably produce. Whereas so many chase scenes involve pristine driving and perfect maneuvering, this one has Bourne and the cops smashing into everyone and everything like a fucking demolition derby.

8) The Terminator - The post-Tech Noir escape/chase. A lot of it is Reese driving really fast by himself, but the whole sequence, from fleeing from The Terminator to eluding the cops to switching cars to being chased by The Terminator in a cop car, all of which is interspersed with Reese explaining to Sarah what's happening, is brilliant.

9) Terminator 2: Judgment Day - John fleeing from the T-1000 and The Terminator catching up on his motorcycle doing his John Wayne/Chuck Connors/Steve McQueen shotgun thing.

10) The Great Escape - McQueen opens and closes my list. Just as I couldn't not have Bullitt on my list, so I couldn't not have McQueen fleeing the Nazis on his bike on my list

Honorable Mention: Anthony Mann's underrated noir Side Street. Decidedly unremarkable until the car chase finale. Way ahead of its time, the chase scene at the end is unique not from a choreographic perspective but from a cinematographic perspective: The super high-angle shots amidst the skyscrapers, the rat-in-a-maze perspective, the geometrism of the street shots, it's really a marvel of early car chase cinematography and editing.

 

[chickenluver]

2. The French Connection
1. The Blues Brothers

 

[ArtemV]

C'mon bruh. Even if you don't like the movie, you shouldn't try to influence the vote



Besides, you love Adam Sandler! We're not going to trust you anyways!


Top 5 10 Car Chases (from memory)!

10. Duel (I suppose)
9. Ronin (Paris!)
8. The Driver (opening chase, the 1978 version)
7. To Live and Die in LA (for going against Traffic)
6. Mad Max (I am the Nightrider!)
5. Blues Brothers (Car Carnage)
4. Bullitt (for it's gritty verisimilitude)
3. Death Proof (for the only 15 good minutes in that movie)
2. Fury Road (take your pick)
1. Mad Max 2: Final Battle

We have several nice old movies from the Soviet times, but I can't recall any recent movies that I like from Russia..

but, wait.

When did I say that I like Sandler? I only said that Click was reasonably entertaining!

 

[europe1]

but, wait.

When did I say that I like Sandler? I only said that Click was reasonably entertaining!

Two weeks ago, bruh! Best films starring comedians!

Top 5:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Anything staring Adam Sandler

 

[Yotsuya]

We have several nice old movies from the Soviet times, but I can't recall any recent movies that I like from Russia..

Probably not a very good movie, but I’m looking forward for this:

 

[moreorless87]

Neo neo realism, huh? If we carry on with this naming scheme, where will we be in 20 years? Triple Neo-realism?

Its the New Old New Vitor of cinema.

I seem to remember the label was actually most common for US indie films back in the late 00's but personally I tend to think the best examples are more recent European cinema. Earlier the desire to have ultra realism I'd say could result in films that felt a bit directionless and didn't have that much to say but I like to think the choices I'v offered have a bit more drive and visual interest to them.

 

[moreorless87]

There's only one movie in this list that can keep me from skipping next week. Here's to hoping it wins (even though right now it's just me and @Tufts voting for the obvious rightful pick).

As for the Top Theme: I'm following @europe1 and going for 10 rather than 5. And, while my name is probably a giveaway for the #1 slot, for the rest of my list of the GOAT car chases:

1) Bullitt - No competition. Awesome but not flashy. Cool but not in your face. Bad ass but not over-the-top. It's perfect.

2) The Dark Knight - What I've always called "the truck scene," when The Joker attacks the transport with Harvey Dent. Great suspense, great action, great cinematography and editing, and great finish...you know, minus Batman not just running The Joker over and ending the movie on the spot

3) The Matrix Reloaded - If not for anything else, the sequels were worth making for the amazing highway scene alone.

4) Batman Begins - The scene where Batman has to escape the cops to get Rachel back to the Batcave for the fear toxin antidote.

5) Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - The combo car/bike chase scene in Morocco. The best combination of comedy and intensity in a chase scene as well as the GOAT bike chase.

6) The Fate of the Furious - Fuck the haters, I enjoy the latter franchise films WAY more and what I call "the harpoon scene," where they all have Dom locked up, is the best chase scene in the franchise.

7) The Bourne Ultimatum - The New York chase near the end. I love this scene because it not only captures but foregrounds the insane amount of damage that a car chase would inevitably produce. Whereas so many chase scenes involve pristine driving and perfect maneuvering, this one has Bourne and the cops smashing into everyone and everything like a fucking demolition derby.

8) The Terminator - The post-Tech Noir escape/chase. A lot of it is Reese driving really fast by himself, but the whole sequence, from fleeing from The Terminator to eluding the cops to switching cars to being chased by The Terminator in a cop car, all of which is interspersed with Reese explaining to Sarah what's happening, is brilliant.

9) Terminator 2: Judgment Day - John fleeing from the T-1000 and The Terminator catching up on his motorcycle doing his John Wayne/Chuck Connors/Steve McQueen shotgun thing.

10) The Great Escape - McQueen opens and closes my list. Just as I couldn't not have Bullitt on my list, so I couldn't not have McQueen fleeing the Nazis on his bike on my list

Honorable Mention: Anthony Mann's underrated noir Side Street. Decidedly unremarkable until the car chase finale. Way ahead of its time, the chase scene at the end is unique not from a choreographic perspective but from a cinematographic perspective: The super high-angle shots amidst the skyscrapers, the rat-in-a-maze perspective, the geometrism of the street shots, it's really a marvel of early car chase cinematography and editing.

Not being able to see the votes I'd be interested to know that choice? you mentioning Tufts voting the same makes me think its Yi Yi? if the issue with the others is political I'd say only Two Days, One Night is really overtly anti business/conservative and even then its focused very little on the management end, Leviathan is more a takedown of corruption in Putin's Russia or indeed big government generally than anti business and Blue is the Warmest is I'd say as much a takedown of the liberal inteligensia as it is gay cinema(which I think is what sited up a lot of the fuss besides the sex). If I wanted to hammer politics I could just have picked Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days.

My Car chases would be....

1. To Live and Die in LA - The Big Chase - Elements of it like the LA drainage system or driving into traffic have been copied many times since but I still hold this most highly, the whole thing just works so well as a kind of escalating madness whilst still having enough of a sense of realism to it.

2.Mad Max: Fury Road - Spiked Cars and Sandstorms - Could be a number of scenes but I think the opening is maybe my favourite with constant interesting stuff happening whilst a plot is unfolding then the electro sand storm being one of the most eye catching FX scenes I'v ever seen, sums up the kind of mental state that would drive someone like Nux so well.

3. Vanishing Point - Police Motorbikes Chase - Maybe not the grandest in terms of action but I think again very realistic and more than anything I love the soundtrack

4. The Terminator - Club Techno escape - Yeah I'm with you on this, the atmosphere of Reese racing around the streets of LA I think really plays a big part in selling the film as a whole plus indeed Cameron manages to fit in a load of exposition as well.

5.Drive - Opening Getaway - The obvious recent one I spose, great mix of driving and slowly rising and falling tension that sets up the whole film.

 

[Bullitt68]

Not being able to see the votes I'd be interested to know that choice?

It's against the rules to say what film we voted for. But the poll is rapidly turning into a landslide, so I'll be able to tell you what film I voted for soon enough.

if the issue with the others is political

It's not. I'm just going to be really busy for the next week and change and there's only one film here that could've gotten me to take time out to watch and discuss it, and only because I like the lead.

The Terminator - Club Techno escape - Yeah I'm with you on this, the atmosphere of Reese racing around the streets of LA I think really plays a big part in selling the film as a whole plus indeed Cameron manages to fit in a load of exposition as well.

Inception is practically a textbook how-to case of embedding exposition in action so that the reception of information is exciting and doesn't stall the narrative momentum, but it's the Cameron playbook that Nolan was working from. And not even Inception can match the effectiveness and elegance of that adrenaline-fueled information dump with Reese turning Sarah's world upside down, explaining literally everything that needs explaining, and driving around LA like a maniac

 

[chickenluver]

Not being able to see the votes

you can see the votes by clicking on the number

 

[moreorless87]

It's against the rules to say what film we voted for. But the poll is rapidly turning into a landslide, so I'll be able to tell you what film I voted for soon enough.

Yeah sorry forgot that.

It's not. I'm just going to be really busy for the next week and change and there's only one film here that could've gotten me to take time out to watch and discuss it, and only because I like the lead.

I did try and have as much variety to the choices as I could in terms of content, its definitely a genre you could say has a more liberal feminine bent to it but Leviathan and to some degree Yi Yi has more of a male perspective as well. Without playing favourites I would say two of the films are amoung the best visually this millennium for me and one of the others isn't bad at all either.

Inception is practically a textbook how-to case of embedding exposition in action so that the reception of information is exciting and doesn't stall the narrative momentum, but it's the Cameron playbook that Nolan was working from. And not even Inception can match the effectiveness and elegance of that adrenaline-fueled information dump with Reese turning Sarah's world upside down, explaining literally everything that needs explaining, and driving around LA like a maniac

I think if Nolan has a weakness its not in this aspect that works very well but that his exposition within normal conservations tends to not be conservational enough, the gold standard for that I'd say was always Harrison Ford in Starwars or perhaps Ian Holm in Alien.

Perhaps highlight another argument in favour of the original Terminator as well in that its more graceful in its expositions via scenes like that and the flashback/forwards than the sequel.

Don't vote for Leviathan, pls. Sadly, movies from my country are not so good

To me honest I think Leviathan does rather challenge the idea that Putin has some Stalin like control of all media, he might not have liked it but still it was made and part government funded, I can't imagine the same happening in the US with a film that critical, indeed I struggle to think of a US film as critical of its own nation.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Surprised by the result so far. There is one film on this list that I have no interest in seeing again, once was enough.